Traffic light food labelling system could harm industry, NFU warns

The traffic light system for labelling food could have potentially dire consequences for the farming industry, the NFU has warned.

It fears that, should the symbols be wrongly interpreted, consumers might needlessly drop foods such as crisps and cheese.

Consequently, it considers the traffic light system to be too simplistic and instead favours the more complex Guideline Daily Amount system, which gives the content details of fat, saturates, calories, sugar and salt in actual quantities and as a percentage of the guideline daily amount.

The GDA system is also supported by food processors Unilever, Nestle, Pepsi, Danone, Kraft and Kellogg’s.

“There is confusion over how the traffic light system should be interpreted,” said Robin Tapper of the NFU’s food chain policy unit. “For example, a red symbol means proceed with caution, not stop, as you might expect it to mean.”

He cites the labelling of cheese as a typical example. “Cheddar has a red light for fat levels, suggesting the product is bad for you, but it fails to emphasise the beneficial qualities such as high calcium levels.”

The NFU’s concerns for the profitability of agriculture are further underlined by recent comments by the British Heart Foundation, which warned that children were unknowingly consuming almost five litres of cooking oil every year if they eat one bag of crisps a day.

According to Mr Tapper, half the UK potato crop goes into the value-added market. “If consumers wrongly interpret the traffic light system, it could have potentially dire consequences for the farming industry,” he said.

However, the Food Standards Agency is committed to promoting the traffic light system, which it says meets consumer preferences for a simple and easy-to-understand labelling regime.

The FSA recently approved a TV commercial to explain to viewers how it should be interpeted. So far the labelling system has been adopted by supermarkets Asda, Sainsbury, Waitrose and the Co-operative group.

Earlier this month, McCain became the first food manufacturer to adopt the traffic light symbol in a bid to show that its oven chips are relatively healthy at just 5% fat.

The FSA said: “We conducted research with 2600 shoppers to find out what type of labels they like and what was the most effective in helping them choose healthier foods.

Following this exercise and consultation with the industry, the FSA’s board recommended the traffic light approach.”